Black Sheep Coffee targets rapid UK growth and US move
The rollout, which will see the group reach close to 100 UK sites by the end of summer 2022, comes as the group announced it had received funding from Latvian basketball player Kristaps Porzingis, who plays in the NBA for the Dallas Mavericks.
Porzingis’s investment is part of Black Sheep Coffee’s latest £5m round of funding from private angel investors, due to close on 8 November, and will support a planned entry into North America.
Black Sheep Coffee's UK expansion will target a combination of major cities and regional towns, in a mix of high office density areas as well as highly residential areas.
The company, which is primarily based in the capital at present, operates three different types of location: grab-and-go kiosks; cafés; and all-day venues, which transition from coffee by day to cocktail bar at night, serving 'signature' espresso martinis, as well as craft beers, wine, champagne and prosecco.
"We’ve only ever raised money from individuals who share our company values," says Eirik Holth and Gabriel Shohet, who founded Black Sheep Coffee between them in 2013.
"When we met Kristaps in Dallas, we hit it off right away and we couldn’t be happier to count him on board the Black Sheep team that every day is growing bigger and stronger.”
Black Sheep Coffee uses only 100% specialty grade Robusta coffee, and is among the very few shop retailers to purchase beans directly from the plantations, looking after the picking, drying, and washing process.
It operates almost 50 sites across the UK, including more than 30 in London, as well as locations in Manchester, Glasgow, Birmingham and Windsor. It also has global outposts in Paris, and Manila,
